Services are Hopping. The #1 Biggie is Hopping the Fastest. It all adds to GDP!

Service-producing industries dominate the US economy, accounting for over 70% of GDP. And this sector is hopping. Revenues in the major services categories rose 5.3% in the second quarter of 2019, compared to the same quarter a year earlier, to $4.05 trillion, not seasonally adjusted, according to the Commerce Department’s Quarterly Selected Services Estimates released today. For the first two quarters of 2019, service revenues rose 5.5% to $8.0 trillion. The pace of growth so far this year is slightly lower than the hot 6.0% growth for the year 2018.

Four biggies dominate the service sector, and the US economy overall. They accounted for $2.92 trillion in revenues in Q1, or about 72% of total service revenues, with the biggest of them all, finance and insurance, accounting for 32%, up from 31% at the end of last year. It is also the fastest-growing segment, even faster than healthcare, as the US economy is getting more and more financialized. The share of each of the big four of overall service revenues:

Finance and insurance: 32%

Healthcare: 17%

Professional, scientific, and technical services: 12%

“Information” services, such as telecommunications, software, and data processing: 11%.

#1 Biggie: Finance and Insurance.

Revenues in the finance-and-insurance sector rose 7.0% to $1.28 trillion in Q2, a new record, and the fastest growth of any major sector. For the first two quarters, revenues rose 6.9% to $2.54 trillion.